Chapter 37: Self-rescue
On the way back, Gu Feixue took a leisurely look at the closed restaurants and teahouses along the street.
However, this perspective revealed an extremely unexpected scene.
That restaurant, which looked like only a mid-range restaurant in Liangcheng, was actually filled with grain, rice and flour!
The rice and flour from this restaurant alone is enough to sustain the entire Liangcheng for another half a month!
Kang Cheng was puzzled when he saw Gu Feixue suddenly stop in front of the restaurant.
"Uncle Kang, do you know who owns this restaurant?"
Seeing Gu Feixue's sudden serious expression, Kang Cheng said truthfully, "If I remember correctly, this is a restaurant owned by Qian Youliang, a famous local squire in the main city."
Squire Qian Youliang?
Gu Feixue seemed to have thought of something and then asked a seemingly unrelated question: "In the list of Liangcheng's wealthy merchants who purchased grain that you collected earlier, is Qian Youliangke on it?"
Kang Cheng showed a look of reminiscence, then nodded.
"Yes, but it's not the one with the most food on the list. It's only in the middle."
Gu Feixue was slightly stunned. Although she didn't store the most food, she actually had enough food to fill an entire restaurant.
It seems that it is perfectly reasonable for Liangcheng to be what it is today.
After the autumn harvest, the tenant farmers in the suburbs were unaware that Liangcheng had already suffered an epidemic and famine. However, these wealthy businessmen took the lead over the government and bought up almost all the grain around Liangcheng.
By the time everyone realized what was happening, there was not much food left in Liangcheng City.
As a result, the plague and famine spread. Except for the main city where the prefect was located, where the situation was slightly better, thousands of refugees and displaced persons emerged in the villages and towns outside the city.
If Duke Zheng and Yuchi Shuo had not been secretly ordered to come and govern, it would have been only a matter of time before the main city of Liangcheng was captured.
Among the wealthy businessmen who purchased large amounts of grain, Qian Youliang was only in the middle. Even a glimpse of the situation can reveal that there are many rich but unkind people in Liangcheng.
"Uncle Kang, with all due respect, I believe that even if Duke Zheng raises enough silver, it will be difficult to buy grain from these wealthy merchants."
Gu Feixue was naturally not stupid enough to think that Zheng Yannian used the silver to buy food from other towns, not to mention whether other towns had surplus food.
Take the situation in Liangcheng as an example. Merchants in the surrounding towns who knew the inside story naturally felt threatened and worried about being affected by the disaster. They couldn't even store grain in time, so how could they sell it?
Therefore, Duke Zheng must have wanted to spend money to buy it from local wealthy businessmen, but since they dared to hoard grain in large quantities when a disaster broke out, they must have planned to make money.
Even if they are willing to sell, the price will not be low.
Kang Cheng, one of Duke Zheng's trusted subordinates, couldn't help but sigh when he heard Gu Feixue's words.
"The master is aware of this, but he still plans to give it a try."
Gu Feixue nodded. It was good that she understood it. She was afraid that she would be hit by reality. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.
The group continued on their way.
"Xue'er, what are you talking about? Why do you look unhappy?"
Gu Sang on the side looked at Gu Feixue with some doubts.
Gu Feixue thought about it and told Gu Sang and Gu Da the story in nomadic language.
"How could this be? No one in our area has ever stored food. If a family is short of food, my parents will bring them home to entertain them. All they have to do is help herd the cattle and sheep."
The nomadic people have simple customs, and Gu Feixue was very envious when she heard about it.
After a while, the group returned to the prefect's villa. Gu Feixue thought of the safety issue she had just thought of on the street, so she asked the servants in the villa about Gu Tingchuan's whereabouts.
After learning that Gu Tingchuan was called away by Yuchi Shuo, Gu Feixue thought about it and decided to go and take a look.
I don’t know why Yuchi Shuo is looking for Gu Tingchuan.
Although Yuchi Shuo and his group also stayed in the prefect's villa, they were not in the same courtyard as the Gu family.
When she arrived at the courtyard where Yuchi Shuo was, she was surprised that Yuchi Shuo's guards let her in directly after seeing her.
She thought that maybe it was because she and Gu Tingchuan had been helping Yuchi Shuo deal with the disaster these days, so these people were familiar with her.
When she arrived at the main room, she happened to hear voices coming from inside. Gu Feixue did not go in, but listened secretly from outside the room.
"No, Your Highness, how can we expect you to pay for the Liangcheng disaster relief grain? I will send another letter back to the capital, requesting Your Majesty to allocate disaster relief funds."
From the voice, I knew it was Zheng Yannian. I didn't expect that Yuchi Shuo was so generous and was actually willing to pay for the disaster relief himself.
Gu Feixue listened in the corner and couldn't help but marvel inwardly.
Then, Yuchi Shuo's voice came from inside: "Duke Zheng, I have made up my mind. There is no other way."
Zheng Yannian couldn't believe it: "How could it be?"
"Zhuifeng." After Yuchi Shuo called out Zhuifeng, he heard the sound of something falling to the ground. If Gu Feixue didn't have good hearing, she might not have heard it.
"…This is?"
This time, Zheng Yannian's voice became obviously more surprised.
"I sent a pigeon back to Beijing last night, but I didn't expect it to be found and shot dead in the dense forest this morning. This time, Liangcheng can only save itself."
Duke Zheng immediately cried out in anger, "How can this be? Who is it that has repeatedly opposed Liangcheng? I will report this to His Majesty when I return!"
There was no response from Yuchi Shuo. Gu Feixue was trying to guess what Yuchi Shuo meant, but she leaned too far inward and stumbled.
This stagger was heard by several people in the room.
"Who's at the door?"
Duke Zheng was like a frightened bird, almost drawing his sword and flying to the door. Fortunately, Yuchi Shuo said at the right time:
"Duke Zheng, don't panic. It's Gu Feixue at the door."
"Xue'er?"
Duke Zheng was surprised, but he no longer thought about drawing his sword, but he was a little puzzled.
Could it be that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's lightness skills have improved a lot?
Otherwise, why could he tell who the person at the door was at first sight?
He didn't even hear it, and thought it was the thief behind the scenes who dared to go to the prefect's villa to get information.
Being exposed on the spot, Gu Feixue felt a little embarrassed for a moment and had to show up.
"It's me, Duke Zheng. I'm here to look for my brother."
When he looked up, he saw Gu Tingchuan sitting below Yuchi Shuo. It seemed that Yuchi Shuo had discussed something with Gu Tingchuan first, and Duke Zheng arrived later.
"Xue'er, why are you here? What happened?"
Ever since Gu Tingchuan heard that Liangcheng was controlled by a mysterious force, he naturally began to worry about the safety of his family.
Especially that mysterious force, which obviously wanted to undermine the stability of Liangcheng. However, he and Xue'er appeared in front of everyone yesterday to help Liangcheng solve the wasteland problem.
Hearing this, Gu Feixue waved her hand and said soothingly, "Brother, nothing's wrong. I just want to learn some bodybuilding skills from you so that I won't be unable to protect myself when I go out."
Gu Tingchuan clearly disagreed with Gu Feixue's idea: "These are turbulent times, so Xue'er should not go out alone. Besides, the hardships of physical training are hard for an ordinary man to endure. Xue'er has her parents and brother to protect her."
As soon as Gu Feixue heard this, she knew that Gu Tingchuan was not willing to let her learn, and she knew that she could only take the long view, but then her eyes glanced at Yuchi Shuo and Duke Zheng.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
